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THE  LIBRARY 
OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


C  O  N  G  R  E  GAT  ION 

ORACH     C  H  AYI  M 

NEW    YORK 


RABBI   DR.   J.  H.   HERTZ 


2  3 
1  2 


5672 
1912 


CONGREGATION     ORACH     CHAYIM 

YORK 


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gural 

.    H.  HERTZ 

23,    5672 

13,      1912 


CONGREGATION     ORACH     CHAYIM 
NEW      YORK 

Knaugural 

RABBI   DR.  J.    H.  HERTZ 

TEBETH    23,    5672 
JANUARY    13,    1912 

the  third  time  in  my  life  I  stand  to-day  on  the 

-  •      uicj  threshold  of  a  new  ministry.    With  this  hour  I 

fP$l 
|H        rain  enter  the  arena  of  this  world-Kehillah  of  New 

l§lU 

f|5j  York  as  the  spiritual  guide,  teacher  and  cham- 
pion of  Congregation  Orach  Chayim. 

Only  too  well  do  I  know  the  difficulty  of  the  task  I  have 
undertaken.  Although  a  stranger  to  most  of  you,  I  am  yet  as 
home-born  in  this  city,  and  realize  as  any  the  larger  problems  at 
least  that  here  clamor  for  solution.  It  is  in  this  city  where  in. 
my  earliest  years  the  inextinguishable  yearning  to  interpret 
Judaism  and  cause  its  children  to  see  the  ineffable  beauty  of 
their  religion  seized  me.  This  yearning  brought  me  to  sit 
at  the  feet  of  Sabato  Morais,  Alexander  Kohut,  Marcus  Jastrow 
and  Benjamin  Szold — to  name  but  those  who  have  gone  to 
their  eternal  reward.  It  is  over  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago 
that  these  great  teachers  in  Israel,  with  their  fellow-workers 
still  happily  with  us,  began  the  good  fight  on  behalf  of  an  un- 
divided Israel  and  on  behalf  of  an  unbroken  connection  with 
Israel's  history  and  Israel's  traditions.  The  Almighty,  who  shapes 
our  destinies,  has  so  willed  it  that  I,  the  first  graduate  of  the  Sem- 
inary they  established,  was  for  thirteen  years  to  toil  under 
other  skies  on  a  distant  sub-continent,  in  one  of  the  youngest  of 
the  world's  Jewries.  But  now,  across  many  seas  have  you  called 
me  to  become  your  rabbi,  and  I  have  bidden  farewell  to  dear 
friends  and  dearer  fields  of  labor  to  help  in  the  grappling  with 
the  religious,  educational  and  organizatory  problems  which, 
as  nowhere  else  in  the  Diaspora,  are  concentred  in  the  New  York 
community. 

As  the  difficulty,  so  do  I  feel  the  vast  responsibility  that  from 
this  moment  becomes  mine.  It  is  no  ordinary  congregation 
that  I  am  to  lead  further  and  further  into  Judaism.  A  congrega- 
tion is  often  nothing  more  than  impersonal  combination  of  indi- 
viduals bound  together  by  the  accident  of  Jewish  birth  and  the 
willingness  to  pay  a  certain  fee  for  synagogue  purposes.  Not  so 


2117527 


the  congregation  whose  good  fortune  it  was  to  have  had  a  Joseph 
Mayor  Asher  as  its  rabbi.  That  sainted  scholar  and  inspired 
preacher,  who  in  his  brief  life  proved  such  a  power  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  all  things  that  are  pure  and  for  the  restraint  of 
all  things  that  tend  toward  unrighteousness  and  un- Judaism,  has 
added  the  last  touches  to  render  you  distinguished  among  con- 
gregations. It  makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world  whether 
we  put  truth— of  thought,  action,  life — in  the  first  place,  or 
only  in  the  second  place.  And  out  of  the  indecision  to  the 
order  in  which  we  are  to  place  truth  nothing  ever  evolves.  It 
invariably  only  involves  us — in  hypocrisy,  indifference  and 
spiritual  sterility.  Now  you,  the  members  of  Congregation 
Orach  Chayim,  have  taken  the  word  "orthodox"  and  have  writ- 
ten it  in  large  letters  on  the  flag  of  your  congregation.  But 
being  men  and  women  with  convictions  and  not  merely 
opinions,  placing  truth  of  life  in  the  first  and  not  in  the  second 
place,  you  justify  and  vindicate  your  right  to  the  use  of  that 
title  by  brooking  no  disharmony  between  your  religious  pro- 
fession and  your  religious  practice — a  rare  phenomenon,  alas, 
in  contemporary  Israel.  No  other  English-speaking  congrega- 
tion  in  the  world,  to  my  knowledge,  insists  on  Sabbath  observance 
as  the  indispensable  pre-requisite  for  admission  to  its  mem- 
bership. An  ideal  is  leading  you  irresistibly  on,  that  of 
the  fearless,  timeless  prophet,  Elijah,  the  zealous  servant 
of  the  Lord.  Like  him,  you  do  not  halt  between  two  opin- 
ions, neither  do  you  "choose  your  path"  of  duty;  but  cling- 
ing to  the  Torah  and  the  whole  Torah,  you  regard  life  as  a  school- 
ing, a  discipline,  and  you  joyfully  yield  unconditional  obedience 
to  that  law  which  Moses  gave  as  an  eternal  heritage  to  the  Con- 
gregation of  Jacob. 

The  assumption  of  the  leadership  of  such  a  congregation 
naturally  presupposes  a  definite  kinship  of  spirit  and  a  virtual 
identity  of  aim  between  the  covenanting  parties.  "Can  two 
walk  together  except  they  be  agreed?"  asks  the  prophet.  And 
the  fact  is  that  without  misunderstanding  I  cannot  well  evade 


the  necessity  of  stating  at  this  moment  the  basement  prin- 
ciples of  the  Judaism  I  expect  each  child  of  Israel  to  love  and 
to  live.  I  will  therefore  turn  to  a  scene  in  the  life  of  Elijah 
which  our  rabbis  have  embellished  for  us  with  deep  and  lumin- 
ous thoughts.  It  is  the  scene  with  his  beloved  disciple  in  the 
moments  immediately  preceding  his  translation  to  Heaven. 
"In  that  supreme  hour  of  their  lives,"  they  ask,  "what  were 
the  themes  of  vast  import  to  mankind  that  engrossed  them?" 
The  question  is  variously  answered  by  them.  "Some  declare 
that  it  was  the  READING  OF  THE  SHEMA;  others  main- 
tain that  it  was  the  MYSTERY  OF  THE  DIVINE  NATURE 
that  busied  them;  still  others  hold  that  it  was  the  esoteric  ex- 
position of  the  STORY  OF  CREATION,  and  the  CONSOLA- 
TION OF  JERUSALEM."  Bear  with  me,  my  friends,  while 
by  means  of  this  profound  utterance,  I  indicate  to  you  the 
larger  lines  on  which  my  aims  and  dreams  shall  move;  what 
it  is  that  shall  guide  me  in  my  endeavors  to  make  the  principles 
of  Orach  Chayim  to  prevail  in  American  Jewry. 

The  keynote — yea,  the  beginning,  middle  and  end — of  all  my 
teaching,  I  may  safely  say,  will  be  the  READING  OF  THE 
SHEMA,  the  exposition  of  "Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  is  our 
God,  the  Lord  is  One."  That  is  at  once  the  quintessential  em- 
bodiment of  all  our  philosophy,  as  well  as  chief  among  Israel's 
contributions  to  the  eternal  values  of  life.  The  first  prayer  of 
innocent  child-lips,  the  last  confession  of  the  dying,  the  Shema 
has  been  the  watchword  and  the  rallying-cry  of  a  hundred  gen- 
erations in  Israel.  By  it  were  they  welded  into  one  Brother- 
hood to  do  the  will  of  their  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  Jacob 
on  his  deathbed  was  seized  with  despair  regarding  the  future  that 
awaited  his  children  as  he  recalled  their  strifes,  divisions  and 
differences.  Hope  again  became  victor  in  his  breast  only  when 
he  heard  them  with  one  voice  exclaim:  "Hear,  O  Israel,  the  one 
God  will  ever  remain  our  God;  forever  and  ever  shall  we  pro- 
claim His  name,  His  kingdom  and  His  glory."  Ever  since  has 
the  reading  of  the  Shema — in  Midrashic  phrase — clothed  Israel 


with  invincible  lion-strength  and  endowed  it  with  the  double- 
edged  sword  of  the  spirit  against  the  unutterable  terrors  of  his 
long  night  of  exile. 

That  invincibility  would  still  be  ours,  if  our  reading  of  the 
Shema  were  always  in  accordance  with  the  Din,  the  authori- 
tative interpretation  and  the  immemorial  custom  of  Judaism. 
When  a  man  reads  the  Shema,  the  Jewish  law  prescribes,  he 
must  do  it  audibly,  so  that  his  own  ears  at  least  should  hear  it. 
Now  many  to-day  blush  at  the  mere  thought  of  a  loud,  articu- 
late proclamation  of  their  Judaism.  They  are  Jews  "at  heart," 
in  their  own  home,  they  tell  us ;  but  as  for  publicly  showing 
their  colors,  they  will  recount  a  dozen  excellent  reasons 
to  you  for  hushing  their  Shema.  Of  old  it  has  furthermore  been 
taught,  "There  is  to  be  no  interruption  in  the  reading  of  the 
Shema,  even  if  a  king  greet  a  man ;  no  cessation,  even  if  a  serpent 
wind  itself  around  his  feet."  The  hissing  demon  of  anti-Sem- 
itism causes  many  to  cease  repeating  their  "Hear,  O  Israel";  to 
deny  and  disguise  their  origin.  While  in  older  countries,  a  greet- 
ing by  a  King — a  patent  of  nobility,  a  decoration — is  but  too 
often  translated  by  both  grateful  recipient  and  gracious  giver  as 
an  invitation  to  apostasy. 

Our  proclamation  of  Judaism  will  be  open,  clear,  honest.  Our 
fathers  died  for  the  Unity.  It  is  for  us  to  live  for  it,  and  yield 
to  it  an  undivided  allegiance  of  heart,  soul  and  substance.  The 
reward  is  great.  It  will  lend  unity  to  our  lives.  It  is  not  in 
vain  that  the  rabbis  call  the  reading  of  the  Shema  "the  taking 
upon  ourselves  of  the  yoke  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Verily  it 
brings  our  wills  into  harmony  with  the  Divine  will,  and  teaches 
us  subordination  to  the  larger  purposes  of  God  as  revealed  in 

Israel's  story. 

***** 

The  proclamation  of  the  Unity  of  God  is  immediately  fol- 
lowed in  the  Shema  by  the  command,  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord 
thy  God."  Now,  love  always  presupposes  sympathy,  soul-com- 
munion, some  glimpse  at  least  of  the  object  beloved.  Like  Elijah 


in  our  Midrashic  text,  therefore,  we  also  will  ponder  on  the 
NATURE  OF  THE  DIVINE  BEING.  Though  there  were 
times  when  the  Sages  justly  feared  great  dangers  from  such 
study  by  the  masses,  religion  was  to  them  more  than  custom, 
hearsay  or  convention.  At  all  ages  do  we  meet  with  the 
mystic's  longing  for  the  loving  communion  with  the  Source  of 
all  things.  This  Jewish  yearning  for  the  Love  of  God  is  some- 
thing which  the  dry  rationalism  of  the  early  German-American 
reformers  did  neither  share  nor  understand.  Even  their  suc- 
cessors to-day  do  not  see  that,  though  men  have  died  for  meta- 
phors, they  cannot  live  on  epigrams  no  matter  how  pointed  or 
paradoxical,  on  phrases,  hollow  and  superficial.  As  for  us,  like 
psalmist  and  sage,  prophet  and  paytan,  mystic  and  martyr  do  we 
seek  God,  pant  for  the  living  God  as  the  hart  panteth  far  the 
water  brooks. 

But  because  our  seeking  of  God  is  conducted  by  us  as  Jews, 
the  perfect  sanity  of  Judaism  will  never  forsake  us.  Even  a 
Moses  is  warned,  "No  mortal  man  can  know  the  Divine  face  to 
face.  Only  from  the  rearward  canst  thou  know  Me."  As  a  ship 
sails  through  the  waters  and  leaves  its  wake  behind,  so  the  Di- 
vine Power  passes  through  the  universe,  and,  though  unseen, 
leaves  behind  it  the  traces  by  which  alone  it  can  be  known.  And 
the  clearest  wake  of  the  Divine  through  the  Ocean  of  time — a 
Gulf  Stream  that  fills  the  whole  history  of  humanity  with  the 
warmth  of  the  love  of  trod — is  Israel.  The  Mystics  of  old,  who 
made  the  Merkabah — Ezekiel's  Chapter  on  the  Divine  Chariot 
— the  centre  of  their  theosophic  speculations,  gave  utterance  to 
a  bold  but  wonderful  thought  when  they  declared  "The  Patri- 
archs, they  are  the  Divine  Chariot."  In  other  words,  no  mortal 
need  hope  for  the  direct  vision  of  the  Throne  of  Glory.  And  it  is 
only  in  the  story  of  the  Fathers,  in  the  soul-history  of  our 
fathers,  as  recorded  in  that  Book  of  Books,  compared  with  which 
all  other  literatures  are  trifles  light  as  air — that  the  Jew  finds  his 
God,  re-discovers  himself,  and  knows  himself  the  link  of  a  mighty 
chain,  that  no  power  under  heaven  can  ever  destroy. 


The  all-surpassing  importance  of  such  historic  spirit-contin- 
uity is  but  feebly  felt  by  our  youth  of  to-day.  We  are  told  of  a 
heathen  Frisian  chief  one  thousand  years  ago  and  more,  who  was 
about  to  succumb  to  the  arguments  of  a  monk  that  undertook 
his  conversion.  He  had  already  entered  the  river  for  baptism 
when  he  innocently  asked,  "You  promise  me  heaven  if  I  follow 
thee;  but  where  will  my  ancestors  abide  who  departed  this 
life  ignorant  of  all  thy  teachings?"  On  being  told  that  these 
would  forever  burn  in  hell,  the  old  chief  retraced  his  steps  out 
of  the  river  and  exclaimed  :  "Monk,  if  hell  is  the  lot  of  my 
fathers,  let  it  also  be  my  lot.  Heaven  without  my  fathers  to 
share  it  with  me,  would  not  be  heaven.  Hell,  with  my  fathers, 
loses  for  me  all  its  terrors."  My  friends,  the  answer  of  that  poor 
benighted  heathen  proves  him  to  have  come  nearer  to  the  root 
of  the  matter  than  many  a  prophet  of  the  Zeitgeist.  These  con- 
ceive of  religion  merely  as  a  sort  of  big  Ambulance-wagon,  to 
rescue  the  vast  army  of  physical,  intellectual  and  moral  cripples. 
Whereas  religion  is  far  more  than  an  Ambulance-wagon.  It 
is  a  Pillar  of  Light,  guiding  the  generations  through  the  deserts 
of  life,  linking  father  and  son  in  natural  piety,  pointing  out  to 
them  the  footprints  of  the  divine  on  the  pathways  of  history.  To 
us  these  are  the  lives  of  our  fathers.  Join  we  them  in  spirit- 
fellowship,  and  like  them,  in  the  maddest  maze  of  things,  when 
most  tossed  by  storm  and  doubt,  we  will  know  a  Mighty  Hand 
guiding  us,  feel  the  Heart  of  all  things  beating  in  sympathy  for 

and  with  us. 

*  *  *  *  * 

Nothing  less  than  a  new  and  novel  conception  of  Man's  Place 
and  Duty  in  Creation  would  be  the  result  of  such  a  proclama- 
tion of  Judaism  if  accompanied  by  such  Jewish  communion  with 
our  Maker.  The  CREATION  CHAPTER  in  Genesis  would 
have  a  new  and  undreamt  of  meaning  for  us.  As  the  earth  fol- 
lows the  sun  in  its  vast  sweep  through  heavenly  space,  and  yet 
at  the  same  time  daily  revolves  on  its  own  orbit,  even  so  man, 
in  the  midst  of  the  larger  national  and  cultural  whole  of  which 


he  is  a  part,  ever  revolves  on  his  own  orbit.  Man,  made  in  the 
image  of  his  Maker,  has  been  endowed  by  Him  with  the  power 
of  creating;  and  the  little  sphere  in  which  Destiny  has  placed 
him  is  largely  of  his  making.  It  depends  upon  us  whether  our 
little  world  be  a  cosmos — order,  law,  unity  ruling  in  it;  or  whether 
it  be  a  chaos — desolate  and  void,  and  darkness  for  evermore 
hovering  over  it.  We  can  speak  "Let  there  be  light!"  until 
perfect  day  envelopes  our  path ;  or  we  can  lose  the  divine  faculty 
of  distinguishing  moral  colors,  and  like  some  of  Isaiah's  con- 
temporaries call  the  light  dark  and  the  darkness  light,  call  good 
evil  and  evil  good.  In  the  Talmud  tractate  of  Hagigah,  we  meet 
a  curious  fancy  of  the  rabbis  concerning  the  creation.  On  the 
first  day  when  the  heavens  and  the  earth  were  being  called  into 
existence,  matter,  they  tell  us,  was  getting  out  of  hand,  and 
the  Divine  Voice  had  to  resound:  "Enough!"  So  far  and  no 
further!  This,  they  point  out,  is  the  inner  meaning  of  the 
Divine  name,  Shaddai.  In  our  lives,  likewise,  the  primal  question 
ever  remains,  "Does  matter  rule  the  spirit?  or,  is  matter 
getting  out  of  hand,  overwhelming  and  crushing  out  soul  ?"  The 
Shema,  with  the  Shaddai-inscription  on  the  doorposts  of  our 
houses,  demands  of  us  the  Imitatio  Dei,  the  supreme  duty  of 
imitating  the  Divine  in  saying  "Enough!"  to  worldly  temp- 
tation, to  rebellious  matter.  And  the  Sabbath,  "the  memorial 
of  creation,"  is  a  constant  reminder  of  our  God-like,  creative 
faculty,  of  our  potential  victory  over  all  material  forces  that 
would  drag  us  down. 

As  at  no  other  time  is  the  Sabbath  the  touchstone  of  the  sin- 
cerity of  our  Judaism  to-day  in  America.  There  has  been  of 
late  no  dearth  of  beautiful  professions  of  Sabbath  observance. 
But  if  these  remain  merely  professions,  they  are  so  much  sound 
and  smoke,  signifying  nothing!  We  furthermore  plead  for  a 
home-Sabbath,  not  merely  for  an  official  Synagogue-Sabbath. 
We  stand  for  the  hallowing  of  home,  for  the  hallowing  of  life, 
under  the  sanctifying  influence  of  our  Torah.  "The  Synagogue 
is  that  place  where,  if  nowhere  else,  we  may  find  a  refuge  for 


our  Judaism,"  is  the  pious  wish  of  many.  But  a  Judaism  that 
has  to  find  a  refuge  in  the  Synagogue  is  in  its  last  gasps  and  is 
not  our  Judaism.  We  can  conceive  of  no  God-full  Jewish  home- 
life  which  is  Sabbathless.  The  Falashas,  that  forgotten  Jewish 
tribe  in  the  interior  of  Abyssinia,  cut  off  for  ages  from  their 
brethren  of  the  house  of  Israel  were  some  years  ago  sorely 
harassed  by  hired  missionaries  to  name  the  Saviour  and  Mediator 
of  the  Jews.  They  spoke  wiser  than  they  knew  when  they  an- 
swered, "The  Mediator  of  the  Jews  is  the  Sabbath."  For  with- 
out it,  there  can  be  no  congregational  communion,  no  organized 
proclamation  of  Judaism,  nor  any  free  exercise  of  our  creative 
self-emancipation  from  the  more  than  Egyptian  thraldom  of 

worldliness,  circumstance  and  necessity. 

*  *  *  *  * 

Only  one  more  Elijah-theme  will  we  now  consider,  namely, 
the  duty  of  the  CONSOLATION  OF  JERUSALEM.  The 
terrible  disillusionments  which  the  first  decade  of  the  twentieth 
century  has  brought  with  it  should  have  convinced  all  that  for 
the  greater  portion  of  our  race  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  is  not 
yet,  that  Israel  is  still  a  Man  of  Sorrows,  acquainted  with  woes; 
still  the  Great  Misunderstood  of  History;  at  once  the  Scapegoat 
and  Saviour  of  Nations.  In  view  of  this  recognition  forced  upon 
us,  are  we,  who  are  children  of  Freedom,  doing  our  full  duty  by 
Israel?  Are  we  consoling  Israel?  Are  we  making  consolation 
superfluous  in  that  we  are  endowing  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  our  people  with  the  lion-strength  that  their  fathers  possessed, 
to  withstand  all  manifestations  of  the  eternal  hatred  against 
the  Eternal  People?  Or,  are  we  of  those  whom  Welsh 
riots  and  even  Russian  pogroms  leave  cold — "impartial"  Jews, 
denying  unpleasant  facts,  because,  ostrich-like,  we  choose  to 
close  our  eyes  to  them? 

Great  is  the  need  for  emphasizing  the  "Consolation  of  Jeru- 
salem" in  this  country.  True,  the  number  of  those  is  daily  grow- 
ing who  have  come  to  see  the  farce  of  the  winged  words  uttered 
by  Emma  Lazarus,  "As  long  as  one  of  us  is  not  free,  we  are 


none  of  us  free."  And  all  honor  to  those  who  for  years  have 
toiled  tor  the  international  recognition  of  the  equality  of  all  the 
citizens  of  this  country.  Triumphantly  have  they  succeeded, 
and  at  the  same  time  have  they  rendered  the  name  of  America 
illustrious,  the  moral  hegemony  among  the  nations  thereby  be- 
coming hers.  Yet  it  so  happens  that  an  influential  portion  of 
American  Jews  fail  to  see  that  religion  is  a  social  phenomenon, 
an  ethnic  force,  far  more  than  merely  the  individual's  attitude 
towards  the  ultimate  problems  of  life.  The  pan-Judaic  outlook 
is  abandoned,  and  its  place  is  taken  by  a  narrow  tribalism, 
called  "American  Judaism."  The  inventor  of  this  term  has  also 
formulated  the  watchword  and  creed  of  the  movement.  It  runs 
thus:  "America  is  our  Zion  and  George  Washington  is  our  Mes- 
siah." According  to  this  new  revelation,  a  deliberate  estrange- 
ment from  the  collective  consciousness  of  the  Jewish  people  and 
the  Jewish  Past  is  held  forth  as  the  course  of  conduct  which 
true  Americanism  dictates. 

We  will  not  now  analyze  the  wilderness  of  misconceptions 
involved  in  this  pathetic  reasoning.  We  can  but  point  to  the 
primitive  notion  of  patriotism  upon  which  it  is  based.  That 
patriotism  implies  that  all  the  inhabitants  in  any  one  land  are  to 
believe  alike  is  not  the  American,  but  the  mediaeval,  theory, 
carried  into  practice  by  a  Ferdinand  and  Isabella.  Just  as  little 
is  the  demand  that  there  be  but  one  language  and  one  tradition 
in  the  land,  American.  Such  is  the  Cossack  ideal.  In  Russia  all 
the  peoples  that  do  not  belong  to  the  dominant  stock — whether 
Jews,  Finns,  Armenians  or  Tartars — are  ruthlessly  crushed  under 
the  Juggernaut-car  of  Russification.  Whither  such  a  leveling 
downward  of  all  ethnic  individuality  leads  is  best  exemplified  in 
the  China  of  not  so  long  ago.  There  we  beheld  hundreds  of 
millions  of  human  beings  who  looked  alike,  thought  alike,  talked 
alike.  This  spectre  of  "Chinesism,"  i.  e.,  one  endless  barrack- 
like  uniformity,  destructive  of  all  color,  variety,  character  is 
beginning  to  loom  on  the  horizon  of  European  and  American 


life  as  an  awful  danger  to  civilization.*  No  wonder  that  the 
greatest  of  empires,  an  empire  in  which  the  sun  never  sets, 
has  a  far  different  conception  of  what  patriotism  is.  It  respects 
the  personality  of  all  the  racial  groups  found  within  the  borders 
of  its  world-wide  dominion.  Nay  it  fosters  the  linguistic  heri- 
tage of  the  French  Canadian,  the  Welshman,  the  Africander 
Boer,  and  encourages  them  all  to  develop  along  their  own  lines 
as  French  Canadians,  Welshmen,  Boers.  If,  therefore,  in  a 
free  land  like  this,  any  man  denounce  the  cultivation  of  Hebrew, 
for  example,  as  Orientalism  and  the  Consolation  of  Jerusalem 
as  unpatriotic,  that  man  is  an  alien  in  spirit  to  the  genius  and 
institutions  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  peoples,  were  he  ten  times 
American-born.  And  even  though  he  do  it  all  in  the  name  of 
the  "Mission  of  Israel,"  he  has  no  conception  of  the  trend  of 
civilization,  he  does  not  begin  to  know  the  meaning  of  true 
patriotism,  and  is  neither  Jew  nor  American.  Patriotism  is  not 
Moloch-worship  to  demand  from  us  the  purposeless  sacrifice  of 
what  is  dearest  and  holiest.  And  as  for  the  Mission  of  Judaism, 
in  America  as  elsewhere,  that,  as  we  conceive  it,  is  first  of  all  to 
be — Judaism. 

My  friends,  I  have  now  roughly  sketched  what  will  consti- 
tute the  burden  of  my  message  to  you.  But  I  am  not  blind  to 
the  hostile  forces  arrayed  against  its  fulfilment,  to  the  disin- 
tegrating influences  that  threaten  our  Jewish  consciousness. 
Times  have  changed,  and  we  have  changed  with  them.  A  story 
from  classical  mythology  may  bring  home  to  us  the  altered  con- 
ditions and  the  new  problems  of  the  present.  We  there  read 
of  a  wanderer  who  on  his  voyages  had  to  pass  islands  where 
sirens  lured  the  mariner  to  certain  destruction.  That  wanderer 
closed  the  ears  of  his  men  with  wax  and  himself  he  fastened 
to  the  mast  of  his  ship,  from  which,  he  ordered,  he  was  on  no 
account  to  be  untied  even  at  his  own  entreaties.  The  ship  soon 
came  near  those  islands  and  the  sirens  sang  their  sweetest.  But 

*See  Rene  L.  Gerard,  "Civilization  in  Danger,"  Hibbert  Jour- 
nal, July,  1908;  and  Joseph  Jacobs,  "Jewish  Ideals,"  page  20. 


the  ears  of  his  men  were  closed,  they  could  not  hear;  he  was 
tied  and  could  not  move.  Is  not  this  a  picture  of  our  manner 
of  resisting  the  siren-voices  of  assimilation  in  preceding  gen- 
erations? These  methods,  however,  are  absolutely  unavailing 
to-day.  The  walls  of  the  Ghetto  have  fallen  never  to  rise  again. 
And  even  in  Russia  an  intellectual  intermarriage,  much  more 
deadly  to  us  than  the  sporadic  physical  cases  in  our  family  life, 
is  ravaging  our  ranks.  What  is  to  be  done?  The  same  story 
continues  to  relate  that  another  crew  on  a  later  date  passed  the 
same  fatal  spot.  This  second  time,  however,  there  was  neither 
fear  of  sirens  nor  necessity  for  protection.  Orpheus,  the  re- 
nowned singer,  was  on  board  and  his  strains  of  irresistible  beauty 
rendered  the  siren's  allurements  ineffectual. 

That  way  alone  lies  our  salvation,  if  we  are  successfully  to 
meet  the  new  occasions  and  vaster  difficulties  of  the  present. 
The  spiritual  quarantine  forced  upon  us  through  the  Middle 
Ages  down  to  recent  times  can  no  longer  be  maintained.  Instead, 
we  must  fill  the  hearts  of  our  children  with  the  melody  of  the 
Shema  and  all  it  connotes;  teach  them  that  there  is  an  Eye, 
which  seeth  all  things,  an  Ear  which  heareth  all  things,  and 
that  all  our  actions  are  written  in  a  Book;  strengthen  their  wills 
that  they  carve  out  for  themselves  honorable,  creative  lives ;  and 
plant  within  them  the  duty  of  the  Consolation  of  Jerusalem,  the 
sense  of  Jewish  Brotherhood — and  then  we  need  fear  no  sirens, 
no  treacheries,  no  apostasies.  When  we  once  realize  that  our 
children — in  Talmudic  phrase — are  our  Messiahs  through  whom 
alone  our  future  can  be  regenerated,  we  must  stand  appalled 
at  the  extent  to  which  we  have  neglected  this  duty,  and  at  the 
antiquated  weapons  with  which  we  have  armed  those  we  have 
not  neglected.  There  are  tens  of  thousands  of  Jewish  children 
in  our  large  Jewish  centres,  "abandoned"  by  us,  left  absolutely 
with  no  religious  teaching.  I  shall  cause  you  to  listen  to  this 
"Cry  of  the  Children."  I  shall  ever  remind  you  that  "infinite 


is  the  reward  of  him  who  helps  even  one  soul  to  walk  in  the 
way  he  should  go:"  that, 

"Heaven's  gate  is  shut 

To  him  who  comes  alone; 

Save  thou  a  soul 

And  it  shall  save  thine  own." 

I  have  no  fear  for  the  future  of  Israel  if  we  but  to  ourselves  are 
true.  A  religion  that  throughout  the  ages  could  make  men  and 
women  die  for  it,  is  potent  enough,  vital  enough,  divine  enough 
to  revive  the  vastest  Valley  of  Dry  Bones. 

In  these  my  endeavors  to  deepen  the  spiritual  life  of  this 
community,  to  bring  back  those  who  have  strayed  from  the  olden 
paths  and  rescue  those  who  have  never  even  trod  them,  I  shall 
demand  two  things  of  you.  One  of  these  is  loyalty.  You  must 
help  me  fulfill  that  service  to  Judaism  I  have  it  in  me  to  render. 
And  I  explicitly  demand  loyalty,  because  many  congregations, 
not  exclusively  in  America,  have  in  their  attitude  toward  their 
rabbis  reverted  to  Israel's  Iron  Age.  "Woe  to  the  generation 
that  sits  in  judgment  on  its  judges;  woe  to  the  generation, 
whose  judges  require  to  be  judged,"  is  the  rabbinical  comment 
on  the  opening  words  of  the  Book  of  Judges.  Again  many  con- 
ceive of  the  rabbinical  office  very  much  on  the  lines  of  those 
Berlin  eighteenth  century  rationalists,  David  Friedlaender  and 
his  friends.  One  hundred  years  ago  when  they  were  consulted 
by  the  Prussian  government  as  to  the  rabbi's  place  in  Jewish 
life,  they  answered  that  a  rabbi  was  merely  the  Koscherwaechter, 
the  ritual  expert  in  foodstuffs  of  the  Jewish  community.  No 
doubt  there  is  some  truth  in  this  definition;  just  enough  in  fact, 
to  render  it  a  clumsy  caricature.  But  I  shall  not  go  to  those 
Fathers  of  the  Reform  Jewish  Church  for  my  conception  of  my 
office.  I  shall  aim  to  be  the  teacher  who  shows  forth  the  eternal 
newness,  applicability  and  holiness  of  Israel's  Torah;  the  cham- 
pion who  defends  it  from  all  attacks  whether  from  within  or  from 
without. 

And,  God  willing,  I  shall  do  so  fearlessly.    A  statesman  had 


recently  to  be  found  to  deal  with  a  delicate  problem  of  empire. 
The  selection  of  a  certain  name  was  very  much  applauded  on  the 
ground  that  he  had  never  said  anything  which  anybody  ever 
remembered.  It  will  be  my  earnest  endeavor  never  to  incur 
such  praise.  With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity  toward  all, 
I  will  yet  be  no  hesitating  or  uncertain  witness  to  the  Truth. 
You  realize  what  this  means.  For  over  sixty  years,  Orthodox 
Judaism  has  in  America  been  subjected  to  a  running  fire  of  ridi- 
cule, blasphemy  and  merciless  warfare  toy  the  leaders  of  the 
liberalizing,  the  revolutionary,  wing  of  our  faith.  In  a  free 
country,  we  have  no  right  to  complain  of  this.  What  we  do 
complain  of  is  that  these  children  of  progress  deny  us  the  right 
to  defend  ourselves!  Reform  Judaism  as  if  fully  aware  of  its 
total  unsoundness  of  heart  is  touchy,  and  painfully  so.  It  sav- 
agely resents  any  retort,  no  matter  how  gentle  or  justifiable. 
For  a  man  to  state  "the  other  side"  and  give  expression  to  his 
sincerest  convictions  as  to  the  bankruptcy  of  American  Reform 
— seeing  that  even  some  of  its  rabbis  have  become  apostates; 
as  to  its  barrenness,  seeing  that  it  has  produced  no  religious 
awakening,  no  great  spiritual  achievement,  not  even  a  single  not- 
able hymn,  is  rankest  heresy.  I  will  look  to  you  for  loyal  help  in 
my  conflict  with  illiberal  liberalism. 

And  I  shall  demand  charity.  Let  us  be  charitable  in  judging 
each  other.  I  shall  not  invariably  succeed,  neither  shall  I  please 
everybody — the  latter  I  will  not  attempt.  But  let  the  day  never 
dawn  when  I  shall  have  to  speak  before  armed  critics  and  not 
to  sympathetic  worshipers.  We  might  well  recall  the  Talmudic 
parable  of  Body  and  Soul  on  the  Judgment  Day.  The  body  pleads 
exemption  from  all  punishment  and  shifts  the  blame  on  the 
soul,  the  divine  spark  which  should  have  restrained  the  body, 
illumined  it,  and  taught  it  how  to  aspire  after  heavenly  things. 
The  soul,  on  the  other  hand,  declares  that  it,  an  emanation  from 
the  Divine,  ever  loathed  sin.  It  was  the  body's  gross  clay  which 
dragged  it  down  into  the  mire  of  animality.  The  Almighty  then 
causes  the  soul  to  re-enter  the  body  and  judgment  is  meted 


out  to  them  both  for  their  combined  transgressions  during  their 
earthly  career.  Often  there  are  similar  bootless  recriminations 
between  pastor  and  flock.  By  combined  endeavor  and  united 
striving  alone  can  we  escape  falling  short  of  the  achievable,  and 
the  consequent  condemnatory  verdict  of  posterity  and  the  Judg- 
ment Day.  By  united  endeavor  and  combined  striving  alone  can 
we  attain  to  a  truer  proclamation  of  Judaism  and  a  manlier  tes- 
tifying to  our  faith  by  our  lives,  a  sweeter  communion  with  our 
Maker,  and  a  nobler  fellowship  with  all  Israel  and  all  Humanity. 

Amen. 

***** 

O  God  of  the  spirits  of  all  flesh ! 

From  my  childhood  up  I  have  heard  Thy  call  and  longed  for 
Thee  to  revive  Thy  work  in  the  midst  of  the  years.  O  Thou 
who  givest  wisdom  to  the  simple,  speech  to  the  dumb  and 
strength  to  the  feeble,  render  Thou  me  a  fit  instrument  for  the 
carrying  out  of  Thy  purposes.  Let  me  be  as  a  harp  and  a  lyre 
for  the  music  of  life — Thy  precious  message  of  Love  and  Truth 
to  Thy  children.  Hard  and  arduous  is  the  task  I  have  under- 
taken, but  none  that  trust  in  Thee  ever  labor  in  vain,  ever  end 
in  confusion.  Strait  and  difficult  is  the  road  I  have  to  travel,  yet 
I  am  cheered  by  the  olden  promise;  "Whoever  comes  to  purify 
can  reckon  on  divine  aid  from  Thy  heavenly  heights."  Turn 
unto  me  the  hearts  of  those  who  have  chosen  me  as  their 
Shepherd,  ensure  unto  me  their  loyalty — their  charity — that  I 
may  indeed  lead  them  unto  Thee.  Through  me  may  there  never 
result  any  contempt  or  misprision  of  holy  things,  any  weaken- 
ing of  their  sway  over  the  lives  of  our  children.  Let  the  sacred 
Cause  intrusted  to  me  never  suffer  at  my  hands,  but  let  Knowl- 
edge, Peace  and  Brotherhood  increase  through  my  service — that 
Thy  Torah  be  magnified  and  Thy  Name  be  glorified  forever- 
more.  Amen. 


PRESS  OF 

THE    HEBREW    STANDAKD 
NEW  YORK 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
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